Edward Fitzpatrick: From South Providence, a story of religion, ruin and renewal

Saturday

May 24, 2014 at 9:46 PM

A rabbi, a nun and two friends walk into an abandoned synagogue. It’s no joke. Rather, it’s part of a true Rhode Island story — complete with an Alex and Ani connection —

Edward Fitzpatrick fitzprov

A rabbi, a nun and two friends walk into an abandoned synagogue.

It’s no joke. Rather, it’s part of a true Rhode Island story — complete with an Alex and Ani connection — that could end with a developer reclaiming a sacred place from ruin.

The story begins in the summer of 2011 when two friends — Adam Bush and Sam Seidel — drove past the abandoned synagogue at 688 Broad St. and saw a “For Sale” sign outside.

The century-old building is on the National Register of Historic Places. But it has been vacant since 2006. And in 2011, someone broke in, vandalizing the property and stealing the copper roofing, which led to major water damage.

Seidel had once worked at AS220’s Broad Street Studio, a nearby arts program for city youths, and he’d always been intrigued about the history of the synagogue and the neighborhood. He and Bush discovered that the synagogue was built in 1911 as Temple Beth -El; that Temple Beth-El moved to the East Side in 1955; and Congregation Shaare Zedek Sons of Abraham occupied the Broad Street building until 2006, when it merged with Congregation Beth Sholom, also on the East Side.

Seidel, who now works at the Business Innovation Factory, and Bush, the founding director of curriculum at College Unbound, arranged to tour the Broad Street synagogue after seeing the “For Sale” sign, and it made a strong impression on them. “The building is amazing,” Bush said. “Once you’re inside, you’re taken aback by the beauty of it, the sacredness of it.”

So they set out to try to preserve the building and breathe new life into it. Last year, students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design did landscaping and covered boarded-up windows with artwork. This weekend, a month-long art exhibit begins inside the synagogue. And Bush and artist Kim Yasuda received a Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority commission for nearby bus stops that will incorporate stained glass and wooden pews.

The goal for the bus stops — and for the synagogue renewal as a whole — is to reflect the history of a Providence neighborhood that has been home to waves of immigrants — Irish Catholics, Jews and, more recently, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, Bush said. “It represents a larger story of Rhode Island immigration, migration, and a sense of home and belonging in this state,” he said.

Bush and Seidel pursued funding for renovations, they sought out interested developers, and they set up tours for more than 100 people, including neighborhood residents.

Along the way, they received advice and support from people such as Barbara Sokoloff, who runs a development and community planning consulting firm, City Councilmen Davian Sanchez and Luis Aponte, SWAP Inc. and Sister Ann C. Keefe, who has worked at St. Michael the Archangel Church in South Providence for 32 years now.

When people asked why a Catholic nun was involved, Sister Keefe told them, “Because it’s part of the history of the neighborhood. It’s a huge part of Providence’s history. The most significant thing we can do is be respectful of the resources we have, and this is one of more significant historically.”

Sister Keefe said she’d love to see the building used for something like Chelsea Market — the enclosed urban food court and shopping mall in Manhattan. “It could be a place of pride and commerce,” she said. “We could turn that into a place where it makes possible for neighborhood folks who are on the edge financially to use that property in a productive way.”

Bush and Seidel emphasized that it’s not up to them to spell out what the building will become, but they have some broad goals. “The one thing we feel committed to is it being a community space where people who live in the area would feel welcome,” Seidel said. “That was what it was built to be — a place people came to for family celebrations and other occasions.”

Bush said they don’t want the main sanctuary broken up into smaller spaces. “The Hebrew word for synagogue is ‘beit knesset,’ which means a gathering place,” he said. “The challenge is to reimagine this gathering place for 350 people in South Providence.” Also, he said the building contains an industrial kitchen that could be used by the neighborhood’s food trucks.

After years of community conversations, plans are now surging forward. Last week, developer Joe Triangelo and Congregation Beth Sholom Rabbi Barry Dolinger said they’d just signed a purchase and sale agreement for Triangelo’s development company to buy the Broad Street synagogue.

Triangelo has attracted national attention for being the contractor who renovated Belcourt Castle after the Newport landmark was purchased by Alex and Ani founder Carolyn Rafaelian, who renamed it Belcourt of Newport. “When embarking on a renovation, it’s always nice to have a good relationship with a contractor,” a September 2013 New York Times story said. “Mr. Triangelo, 49, and Ms. Rafaelian fell in love three years ago, locking eyes in a Providence, R.I., restaurant.”

On Friday, Triangelo said he plans to invest $2.17 million of his own money into renovating the synagogue. “We finalized the contract this morning, and the first thing we have to do is a new roof, new windows, to make it secure and dry,” he said. “We are going to make it a Chelsea Market for the whole community to enjoy.”

Triangelo, of Providence, said he hopes to complete the project in about a year and employ about 20 people, including neighborhood residents.

“The temple project is much bigger than me or my company, Trico Development,” Triangelo said, thanking a list of people including Carlos “DJ Kabeza” Baez, Felipe Moronta and Michael Kelly. “I’m just a vehicle that my maker has chosen to get us to the finish line. I’ve been very blessed to have this opportunity. The most important thing to remember here is that this is the restoration of a very sacred property for the community at large — of all ethnic backgrounds — to enjoy.”

Rabbi Dolinger outlined potential uses for the Broad Street synagogue: The large social hall could become a miniature Chelsea Market, serving as “an incubator of businesses in the local community,” he said. A religious school at the site could become a “nouveau Jewish kosher deli,” perhaps named “Temple Deli,” he said. And the sanctuary could be used for performing arts, prayer services or other public gatherings, he said.

“The goal is to turn it from a black eye into something that, in 10 years, we will look at this place and reflect on how much it improves the community — not just the visuals but the lives of the community and the character of the city,” Rabbi Dolinger said. “We’d like it to be place that captures the ethos of Providence and that would be a cool place for people to gather.”